title: Organization of brain networks governed by long-range connections index autistic traits in the general population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The dimensional approach to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) considers ASD as the extreme of a dimension traversing through the entire population. We explored the potential utility of electroencephalography (EEG) functional connectivity as a biomarker. We hypothesized that individual differences in autistic traits of typical subjects would involve a long-range connectivity diminution within the delta band.
  
  
  METHODS
  Resting-state EEG functional connectivity was measured for 74 neurotypical subjects. All participants also provided a questionnaire (Social Responsiveness Scale, SRS) that was completed by an informant who knows the participant in social settings. We conducted multivariate regression between the SRS score and functional connectivity in all EEG frequency bands. We explored modulations of network graph metrics characterizing the optimality of a network using the SRS score.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results show a decay in functional connectivity mainly within the delta and theta bands (the lower part of the EEG spectrum) associated with an increasing number of autistic traits. When inspecting the impact of autistic traits on the global organization of the functional network, we found that the optimal properties of the network are inversely related to the number of autistic traits, suggesting that the autistic dimension, throughout the entire population, modulates the efficiency of functional brain networks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EEG functional connectivity at low frequencies and its associated network properties may be associated with some autistic traits in the general population.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina. aibanez@ineco.org.ar.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barttfeld
authors.forename: Lucía
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Amoruso
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ais
authors.forename: Sebastián
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cukier
authors.forename: Luz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bavassi
authors.forename: Ailin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tomio
authors.forename: Facundo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Manes
authors.forename: Agustín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ibanez
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sigman